Household Typology for Relating Social Diversity and Technical Change

Farm diversity, classification schemes and multifunctionality

“…If these conditions are met, classification schemes might very well be used in settings other than those in which they were originally intended for, and might well serve to highlight specificities of time and place. This was demonstrated by the work of Laurent et al (1999), Anseeuw et al (2001) and Modiselle (2001), who applied the classification of activity systems in the South African context of the post apartheid period. In that case this type of method was chosen because the priority was to describe the various patterns of the existing farm activities in the so-called 'black' and 'coloured' fractions of the population, whatever the aim of the activity (e.g.…”

Perspective article: Actions to reconfigure food systems

“…Interventions need to address current needs and future aspirations of farming households, as well as ensuring that economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits are not compromised, now or into the future. Appropriate targeting will help to improve the efficiency of the agricultural development process and avoid unintended omission of particular groups of vulnerable people ( Laurent et al, 1999 ; Lopez-Ridaura et al, 2018 ).…”

Agricultural Transformation Pathways toward the SDGs

“…The substitution between labor and capital linked to technological changes and investment in technology are rarely analyzed in conjunction with achievements in terms of environmental performance. The long-term socioeconomic performance of such technology changes would require analysis of their differentiated impact on different types of farms, depending on their level of labor intensity and capital intensity (physical capital and land), their capacity to access credit, and the consequences for concentration or specialization processes in farms at a regional level (Laurent et al, 1999). To what extent do such changes contribute to transformation pathways that deliver both environmental and social results-assessed, for instance, in terms of employment and income levels in the farming sector at a regional or national scale?…”